Essays on trans, intersex, cis and other persons and topics from a trans perspective.......All human life is here.

This site is the most comprehensive on the web devoted to trans history and biography. Well over 1400 persons worthy of note, both famous and obscure, are discussed in detail, and many more are mentioned in passing.)

There is a detailedIndexarranged by vocation, doctor, activist group etc.

In addition to this most articles have one or more labels at the bottom. Click one to go to similar persons. There is a full list of labels at the bottom of the page. There is also a search box at the top left. Enjoy exploring!

Pages

17 January 2016

I think that this is a first attempt at compiling such a list. Four Us raids:
Cooper's Doughnuts, Dewey's Lunch Counter, Compton's Cafeteria and Stonewall are
frequently mentioned, but there were a lot more, even in the US. There are
probably many more that I have missed.

1726

February Mother Clap's Molly House, Field Lane, Holborn, London
Most found-ins were eventually set free because of lack of evidence, but some
were fined, imprisoned and exhibited in the pillory. Three were hanged at
Tyburn. Rictor
Norton

1810

8 July White Swan, Drury Lane
A Molly House where 'faux marriages' were arranged, young boys and female
clothing was provided. After a raid and trial, 2 were executed, 6 were pilloried
and imprisoned. Blogarticle

1854

26 July Druids' Hall, London
After 18 month's police observation, the balls were raided. Some were charged
with disguising themselves as women with the purpose of exciting others to
commit an unnatural offence. They pleaded naivety and were released. GVWW

1880

September Temperance Ball, Hulme, Manchester
The Hall was rented supposedly for the Manchester Pawnbrokers' Association.
About half of the dancers were cross-dressed. The police followed a tip-off and
raided, but the magistrate released all. GVWW

1889

July 19 Cleveland St, Fitzrovia, London
A male brothel that offered cross-dressing as well as other services. Members
of the establishment including the Heir Presumptive were customers. EN.Wikipedia

1894

Fitzroy Square, London

Alfred Taylor, who would be a co-defendent with Oscar Wilde the next year,
and Arthur Marling, a female impersonator, were arrested for wearing female
clothing at a party given by John Preston. GVWW

1901

17-18 November 4a calle de la Paz, Mexico City
The local policeman noticed many carriages depositing passengers, and
investigated. He discovered 41 male-bodied persons dancing, 19 dressed as
female. He called reinforcements and they were all arrested. It was rumoured
that the President's son-in-law was allowed to escape. 19 of the arrested were
inducted into the army and sent to do forced labour in the Yucatan where a Mayan
insurgency (the Caste War) was being suppressed with the assistance of the UK
government. GVWW

1913

MaidenheadReginald
de Veulle and Joseph
Dean were at a drag party when locals, having realised the nature of the
party, starting throwing stones.

1920

31 March 1128 West Twenty-Eighth Street, Los Angeles
After a trip to Bakersfield, Arthur Harper, an ex-mayor of Los Angeles, and
his wife returned home unexpectedly, on the last day of March 1920, to find a
raid by the Los Angeles police ‘purity squad’ against a party given by their son
Joseph, 24. Joseph and seven others were in female garb. The police claimed that
a ‘degenerate orgy’ was in progress, and charged all twenty found with Social
Vagrancy. The female garb was confiscated as ‘evidence’, and those wearing it
had to send for masculine clothing before they could leave. Eight were denied
bail after failing to pass medical quarantine examinations. GVWW

1923

Detectives Joseph Massie and Dewey Hughes of the Special Service Squad were
assigned to the Black Parrot Tea Shoppe Hobo-Hemia, 46 Charles Street, to
witness what they had been informed would be a “circus", and arrested five women
and eight men. However on closer inspection, Ruby Bernhammer 21 from West
Hoboken, New Jersey, did not meet their definition of a woman. Bernhammer was
charged with disorderly conduct for giving an indecent dance, and they gave her
name as 'Harry'. Another arrested was Arthur C. Budd also 21 who worked as a
female impersonator in “The Lady in Ermine” at The Century Theater under the
name Rosebud. GVWW

1932

27 Holland Park, London
Austin S., barman organized a ball for domestic servants and hotel staff.
Many of the men were cross-dressed. The event was raided by the police; 33 men
and 1 woman were arrested. The subsequent trial became the most widely reported
English 'pansy case’ of the 1930s. GVWW

The Big House, Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
From 1932 onwards, and especially after the end of Alcohol Prohibition in
1933, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) started busting the pansy clubs.
The raid on The Big House in the fall of 1932 is notable in that it met
resistance: the patrons fought back and a female impersonator attempted to
escape through a window. However he, the owner and two patrons were arrested. GVWW

1933

6 May Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, Hatzfeldschen
Palais in Berlin-Tiergarten
The building had been bought by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1919 for the Institut,
and had been recognised by the German government as a registered charity. When
the National-Socialist Party became the government in 1933, the destruction of
the Institute was a priority. GVWW

21 May The Buddy's Rendezvous, Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
The Big House, renamed Buddy's Rendezvous, reopened, and the police returned
eight months later. The waiter was arrested for selling liquor and beer without
a proper licence, and five transvestites were arrested on vagrancy charges. Each
received the maximum six-month jail sentence for masquerading, and the bar
finally closed. GVWW

23 May Tait's, San Francisco.
Rae Bourbon was performing, and the performance was being broadcast live on
the radio, when the club was raided by the police. GVWWBlogarticle

1935

20 December The Cabin Inn, 3119 Cottage Grove Avenue, Bronzville,
Chicago
The Cabin Inn was first raided in October when it hosted a wedding between a
trans woman and a man. The impersonators were given a choice: "put on your pants
or go to jail with the management". The Inn paid bribes, and quickly re-opened.
The police returned and cited the Cabin Inn for violating its entertainment
license. Twelve had been arrested: the two owners, two bartenders, the
floodlight operator and seven female impersonators, three working at the Cabin
Inn and four guests. In South State Street Court Judge Eugene McGarry dismissed
all the charges: "The testimony does not show any specific violations of
ordinance ... It appears that these men were dressed in female clothes. The
testimony shows that it was a masquerade party. Female impersonators appear on
stage every day. In the absence of any such testimony I have no choice but to
find the defendants not guilty and that will be the order." GVWW

1939

Le Binocle, Paris
Closed by the police in the austerity period that preceded the coming war. GVWW

1950

January Wiltshire, Los Angeles
Three young African Americans were arrested for dressing as female. They
claimed to be domestic servants. Lavender
Los Angeles, p48.

The steamer Robert E. Lee, on the Potomac River
An African-American river outing with some cross-dressed. The police arrested
some. GVWW

1954

Tommy's Place, 529 Broadway, San Francisco
The bar was closed by the vice Squad. Two of the bartenders were charged with
serving minors, and then some heroin, probably planted, was found in the ladies'
toilets. Tommy lost her license and one of the bartenders was convicted. GVWW

1958

October National Variety Artists Ball, Manhattan Center, New York
143 were arrested, including Perry Desmond. GVWW

1959

1962

Stella Minge's Molly House, Silverton, Newham, London
London's last Molly House was raided now and then. GVWW

26 October National Variety Artists Ball, Manhattan Center, New York
Usually left alone, this year the NYPD raided the ball and arrested 30 or 43
"men" in female costume. This was the night before the trans gathering at
Chevalier D’Eon Resort in upstate New York dominated by Virginia Prince.
Those arrested appeared before Judge William Ringel who ruled that they could
not be "''masquerading to conceal identity" if they were at a masquerade ball.
GVWW

1963

February The Black Cat Bar, 710 Montgomery St, San FranciscoJosé
Sarria performed at the Black Cat doing camp versions of operatic arias. The police
regularly raided gay bars and charged everyone, particularly trans women (as
cross-dressing was a municipal crime), found inside. José urged that they plead
not guilty which overloaded the courts and judges started demanding actual
evidence. After years of harassment, but winning some court cases against the
harassment, but with a legal cost of $38,000, the bar was forced to close. EN.Wikipedia

1965

25 April Dewey's Lunch Counter, 219 S 17th
St, Philadelphia
Deweys was a Philadelphia chain restaurant. The Dewey's at 208 s
13th St was the 'fag' branch where drags queens, hustlers, lesbian
and cops ate and drank side by side. The other branches, especially the
17th St branch wanted it that only the 13th St branch be
so. They started refusing service to known homosexuals and "persons wearing
non-conformist clothing". 150 protesters staged a sit-in and the police were
called. 3 protesters were arrested. At a second sit-in a week later the police
declined to take any action, and the management agreed to end discrimination. BlogArticle

1966

August Compton's Cafeteria, 101 Taylor St at Turk, San Francisco.
This branch of Compton's was one of few places in the city were trans persons
could go. However the staff had started calling the police to arrest trans
persons. By August a picket was launched. One night friction exploded into riot,
dishes were smashed and the windows were smashed. The next night was a repeat.
EN.Wikipedia

1967

Midnight, 1 January The Black Cat Tavern, 3909 West Sunset Boulevard.

On the last night of 1966 there was a drag contest at New Faces, a bar on W.
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. Just before midnight many of the contestants
crowded into the Black Cat, just down the street. At the stroke of midnight, as
many of the men exchanged a traditional kiss, the LAPD rushed in and beat
several customers brutally. They chased two back to the New Faces where they
knocked down the woman owner and beat the two bartenders unconscious, one of
whom then suffered a ruptured spleen and after recovery was charged with felony
assault on a police officer. Six patrons were charged with lewd conduct for
kissing, and were all found guilty by a jury. Two of them were later registered
as sex offenders. In response, there were organized protests, and the
convictions of the two were appealed as far as the US Supreme Court which
declined to take the case. This inspired a new periodical, The Advocate, for gay and
lesbian (including transvestite) issues. GVWWEN.Wikipedia

1969

2 am 28 June The Stonewall Inn, 51-53 Christopher St, Greenwich Village,
Manhattan, New York
In pursuance of a case of stolen bonds and blackmail, the NYPD decided to
raid the Stonewall Inn whose management was implicated. However they chose to
raid late at night when the Inn was busy with customers, and ended up paying
more attention to how people were dressed than to evidence of blackmail. They
took a paddy wagon designated for drag queens, from whom they met the first
significant resistance. The police lost control, and a full-scale riot ensued,
and continued for three nights. If the upstairs office was searched, it was not
mentioned. The riots are now iconic, and taken as the origin of trans
liberation. GVWW

1973

Stonewall Club on Twenty-first Street, Miami Beach, Florida
After a raid and arrests Angela Douglas of TAO files suit for discrimination.
GVWW

1974

February Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London
The Gay Lib drag commune, Bethnal Rouge, was invited by Goldsmith College Gay
Soc to give a Pre-Disco talk. Group 4 Total
Security working for the College attacked them before they even spoke, and
when Lewisham police arrived they were told that Bethnal Rouge had come to the
disco to cause trouble. One queen needed hospital treatment; another who was
head butted lost two front teeth. One was arrested and later that night thrown
through a glass door in the police station. The rest escaped. GVWW

1976

21 April South London Gay Community Centre, 78 Railton Rd, Herne
Hill, London
The building and next-door had been empty for many years when they were
squatted in 1974 and became the Gay Community Centre and the Women's Centre.
Alternate lifestyles, art and politics flourished. "Gender bending was
encouraged to dissolve rigid categories of masculine men and feminine women. For
others dressing in drag was a sheer pleasure and an opportunity for ingenious
invention". However finally the legal owners asserted their position and
bailiffs and police arrived to take the property so that it could be sold to
Lambeth Council for £25,000 for redevelopment. BlogArticle

1990

3am, 15 July. Sex Garage loft party in Old Montreal.
Sex Garage, hosted by New Yorker Nicolas Jenkins, catered to the "butches,
trannies and drag queens" who were reviled elsewhere, and mixed them with all
sorts. 16 police cruisers and 40 officers with billy clubs became angry when
they found no money behind the bar. Some drag queens climbed out the windows and
crawled across rooftops. Many of the rest of the crowd were beaten, and
photographs were in the next day's newspapers. Demonstrations started the next
evening, and on the 16th they were met with more police brutality,
documented by journalists. Demonstrations continued for two months. Led to
Lesbians and Gays Against Violence (LGV) which led to La Table de concertation
des gaies et lesbiennes du grand Montreal, which lobbied for the Quebec Human
Rights Commission’s historic 1993 public hearings on violence against gays and
lesbians. NewsarticleWikipedia

19 July Centre de Christ Libérateur (CCL), 3bis, rue
Clairaut, Paris
Joseph Douce, gay priest, author of La Question transsexuelle, who
organised meetings and counselling for trans persons, was the prime mover behind
CCL. Two men showed police badges and asked him to go with them. In late October
his decomposed body was found in the forest of Rambouillet outside Paris. It is
claimed that he was taken by the political police, Renseignements
Généraux (RG). RG section leader Jean-Marc Dufourg was questioned about
Douce’s death, fired and convicted of misuse of a firearm, but never officially
admitted to be Doucé’s murderer. GVWW

14 November Tuntenhaus Forellenhof, Mainzer
Straße 4, Berlin
After the fall of the wall, 30 houses in Mainzer Straße became squats with
different orientations. Number 4 was a Tuntenhaus (queer-house). In November the
police came to clear the squats, which resulted in street battles with, at its
height 1400 police firing tear gas and water canons against 500 squatters. DE.Wikipedia.

2000

11 February Mikons bar, Cordoba.

Vanessa Ledesma of Córdoba,
who was active in the Asociación Travestis Unidas de Córdoba (ATUC) was
arrested during a scuffle at the Mikons bar on 11 February 2000. Five days later
she was dead. Vanessa Ledesma was recognized by Amnesty International as one of
six cases to mark its 40th anniversary. GVWW

2004

18 December Gondolin Hotel, Buenos Aires
The hotel was taken over by travestis from the town of Salta after the owner
died with no kin to inherit. Monica León organized the Asociación Civil
Gondolin, in large part to help the travestis there who were heavily into
drugs and alcohol, and never used condoms. She coordinated with two hospitals to
bring in 40-45 travestis monthly for check-ups to control tuberculosis. She
sorted out the legal status of the hotel by getting the travestis to pay its
taxes and bills. On 18 December 2004, 60 police surrounded the hotel and robbed
the inmates. Monica was shot eight times in the legs. GVWW

2006

6am 31 March Le Madame, Koźlej 12, Warsaw
From 2003 Le Madame had been a club and community centre for alternate
lifestyles and opinions. In 2005 the city took ownership and with the
encouragement of the ruling Kaczynski twins began harassing the club. On 31
March bailiffs and police were sent in, but were met by a sit-in. However it was
cleared brutally. Street demonstrations continued for many days. Drag performer
Pandora entertained in front of the building. PL.Wikipedianewsarticle

2008

April Lambda Istanbul
Lambda Istanbul, founded 1993, registered 2006. In 2007 the City government
complained and a local court banned Lambda Istanbul. The police raided its
cultural centre on grounds of "frequent visits by transgender people". The
Supreme Court overruled the order on November, and in April the local court gave
permission for continued operation. Newsarticle

9 November Dasarahalli, Bangalore
Police in Bangalore, India, forced 100 hijras from their homes, after a
scandal about some hijras kidnapping and castrating male children. Newsarticle

2009

12 June Riyadh
66 Filipino guest workers at a private party for Philippine Independence Day
were arrested for 'imitating women' and possession of alcohol. Newsarticle

June-December Honduras
Following the US-backed military coup, opposition political activists were
killed by death squads as were “up to 18 gay and transgender men have been
killed nationwide — as many as the five prior years — in the nearly six months
since a political crisis rocked the nation.” Newsarticle

2010

January Japan
Three Filipino, who had previously worked in Japanese nightclubs before final
surgery, were arrested on return to Japan to live with their husbands because of
discrepancies in their papers. BlogArticle

26 March Mercure Hotel Surabaya
Conference held by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and
Intersex Association (ILGA) was cancelled by the police after complaints and
then threats by Muslims. ILGA

1 May Bumi Wijaya Hotel, Depok
The National Commission for Human Rights held a human rights training
session. This was invaded by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) complaining that
the Commission recognized the transsexual community. Afterwards, Satpol disputed
that they had a permit. Newsarticle

17 May Pembe Hayat (Pink Life), Ankara.

Five activists were detained and brutally attacked by the police, and then
charged with 'resisting police'. In October a judge dismissed the case for lack
of evidence and reprimanded the police. Newsarticle

July Khartoum
19 young men in Sudan at a private party. A police raid found them in female
clothing and makeup. No lawyers would defend them. They were sentenced to 30
lashes and fined. They were flogged in public. Newsarticle

2012

February Iraq
Continuous reports of militia targeting youths which focus on attacks,
kidnapping, torture and murder of ‘emo’ youth and individuals perceived as gay,
lesbian or trans. GayAsylumUK has confirmed that the US-backed Iraqi
authorities actively conspire in this, arresting LGBT people and handing
them over to the militiamen who kill them. The Netherlands
is granting asylum to GLBT Iraqis.

2014

April Jeddah
Neighbours complained about loud music at a beach party. Some were 'dressed
in women's clothes'. The police arrested 35 and accused them of being gay. Newsarticle

October Yaoundé
A private house was raided after a neighbour complained that it was
frequented by 'effeminate homosexuals'. Seven trans persons were arrested and
charged with being engaged in "prostitution and homosexual acts". They were
later released for lack of evidence. Newsarticle

24 November Bangalore
After a recent demonstration at Pride against India's recriminalization of
homosexuality in 2013, 167 hijras were arrested in a 'crackdown' on assumed
beggars, although they were not begging at the time and some were dragged from
their homes, and others when they went to the police station to help those
already arrested. Nearly 2,000 hijras and supporters, aware of the targeted
nature of the sweep marched in protest. Newsarticle

2015

June Agadir
Police arrested 20 gay and trans persons, and charged them with “breach of
public decency”. Newsarticle

Translate this page

Search GVWW

About Zagria

I have a social science degree. I spent several years in the 70s doing Gay Lib counselling, and moved on to organizing trans groups. I was rejected by the Clarke Institute (now CAMH) in the mid 1980s, probably because I do not match either of their stereotypes, but was accepted by Russel Reid on our first meeting in late 1987, and had surgery from James Dalrymple some months later. I have mainly worked as an IT consultant. I have been with the same husband for 45 years.